Mintiper Moonsilver
Mintiper Moonsilver was a bard whose works were collected in Silverymoon and compiled into Mintiper's Chapbook. Mintiper Moonsilver Male half-elf 12th-level bard ARMOR CLASS: -1 (dexterity bonus and bracers of defense AC 3; armor rarely worn, but leather armor) MOVE: 12 HIT POINTS: 69 NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 ATTACK BONUSES: +1 for strength bonus; +3 with hurled missiles (strength and dexterity bonuses) DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon type (+1 for strength bonus) SPECIAL ABILITIES: Special saving throw (see text), hear noise 70%; climb walls (84%); pick pockets 70%; read languages 51%; standard bardic abilities, 60' infravision, chances of locating secret & concealed doors MAGIC RESISTANCE: 30% resistant to sleep and charm, see possessions for immunities ALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutral (good tendencies) PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil SPECIAL ABILITIES: Spells: 3-1st (usually read magic, sleep, affect normal fires), 3-2nd (summon swarm, fog cloud, melf's acid arrow), 3-3rd (dispel magic, fly, wind wall), 2-4th (charm monster, ice storm) PROFICIENCIES: Weapon: long sword, dart, dagger, sling, bastard sword: sic nonweapon: direction sense, endurance, foraging, musical instrument (lute, harp, recorder), swimming, weather sense LANGUAGES KNOWN: Common, elven, halfling, Runetongue (see text) S: 17 D: 18 C: 18 I: 15 W: 17 CH: 15 AGE: 47 SIZE: M HT: 6'2" WT: 182 lbs HAIR: Black EYES: Blue POSSESSIONS: silver bastard sword +2, two long swords, leather armor, decanter of endless water, a throwing knife in either boot; nonmagical harp, lute, and recorder; 1-6 potions of healing, cloak of elvenkind, greenstone amulet (immune to chaos, forget, geas, hold, charm; detailed in FR4 The Magister) TREASURE: 1-10 cp, 1-20 sp, 1-10 ep, 5-50 gp, 1-6 pp + 10% possibility of gems; DM should determine types and sizes (is also said to have hidden The Gray Book of Mysteries, a spell book of some power) Mintiper Moonsilver is a famous travelor in the FORGOTTEN REALMS lands of the Sword Coast North. He is the only man to have stormed the ghoul-hold of Hellgate Keep and lived to tell the tale. His band, the Moonlight Men, once plundered the treasure valuts of Luskan, and their defense of Turnstone Pass against an orcish horde has become part of the legends of the North. Little is known of Mintiper's heritage or early life. Mirt "the Moneylender" of Waterdeep believes that Mintiper's father was a Waterdhavian, and that his mother was a moon elf of Ardeepforest, but readily admits that this is unconfirmed and could well be wrong. It is known that Mintiper was on his own at an early age, making a living in the North by his wits and the skill of his sword and his songs. Successful in treasure-hunting among the ruins of the North and astute in taking companions, Mintiper assembled one of the finest adventuring bands seen in the North since the days when Mirt of Waterdeep was "the Merciless." Mintiper's Moonlight Men roamed the North for eight splendid seasons before heroically defending Silverymoon and Everlund at Turnstone Pass. Only six of Mintiper's band survived that bloody victory, but in Everlund they say that the patrol counted well over four hundred orc heads when they were building pyres to burn the fallen. Mintiper plunged south into the High Forest and traversed its length (one of the few living men to do so). It is not known whether his fellow survivors perished during the journey or turned aside to leave the wood, but it is certain that Mintiper was alone when he met and joined the Wood-Riders of Turlang. The Wood-Riders were a band of human adventurers who took only the name of the age-old treant leader and his woods, raiding merchant-caravans and other brigands in the rolling grasslands near Secomber, and using the fringes of the Forest to hide from pursuers. On one occasion, the Wood-Riders encountered a small adventuring band. Its leader, a woman of unusual height and strange magic, tried to fight them all even after wounded by three sword blows. Her bravery and beauty caught Mintiper's eye, and he rescued her, deserting the Moon-Riders to do so. So it was that Mintiper met the dying spellsinger, Alyniria. From her he learned the ancient Runetongue. From Alynira he gained the mark by which he can now be identified: the silver mark of her lips burned indelibly into his left shoulder, when she died in his arms. In doing this, she spent her fading life-force in a special bless magic, laid upon Mintiper. This special dweomer is permanent (perhaps even beyond Mintiper's death): Once every 99 turns, if Mintiper fails a saving throw, a second saving throw is instantly allowed. This "spellsinger's luck" has been bestowed on others, but very rarely; its creation may require the death of the spellsinger. Mintiper is not aware that he bears this magic, and he cannot confer it (even temporarily) upon another. After he had laid Alyinira to rest in a secret place, Mintiper came to the cities of the Sword Coast. An embittered and despairing man, he took to thievery. His exploits soon won him fame; his fearless recklessness carried him on to feats others dared not try. While plundering the tower of Iniarv the Manyhanded, he was confronted by the great mage-and slew him. The cities of Amn and Tethyr came to know Mintiper well, and he rose rapidly in wealth and reputation. Briefly becoming the companion of the evil sorcerer Morlaug, he was forced to flee from increasing pressure (both fell magic and hired killers) sent by some of his victims, the wealthy satraps of Calimshan. Seizing a Calashite merchant ship in Port Kir, Mintiper sailed to the pirate isle of Skaug. There he took ship with the "Coast Wolf," Kesmer Red-Eyed. A storm soon wrecked Kesmer's ship, which broke up on the rocks. One pirate survived the wreck, thrown far from the rigging and clear of the rocks. He swears that a great flame rose on the deck about Mintiper, flaring up and consuming Kesmer and his crew-and when it dies away, Mintiper was gone. Questioned about this, Mintiper once said that he had escaped the wreck by means of a green gem given to him "long ago" by his mother, Maralen. It teleported him into the headlands of the Purple Hills, consuming itself and the pirates in doing so. The origin of the gem, if indeed it did exist, is unknown. Mintiper moved south to Myratma, where he made a living for a time as a guide taking adventurers through the ruins and subterranean cities of the long-vanished Mourativi Teshu Mir, the "first kingdom." Growing weary of the trade, he later wandered north and east towards the High Forest. Joining a mercenary band along the way, Mintiper was swept into skirmishes between Amn-sponsered mercenaries and "dervish" tribes raiding caravan trade that passed near Anauroch. Along the edge of the Great Desert, the Company of the Striking Hawk (Mintiper's new-found comrades) and the Company of the Blue Broadaxe battled the nomads, until they found the camp of the desert chieftain Khytor Moramu near the Battle of the Bones, fell upon it, and were attacked on all sides by desperate tribesmen. The battle was long and fast-moving, on horse- and pony-back among the hills; it was almost a season before three wounded vetrans brought word back to Amn that Moramu had been slain and his riders destroyed, but only they had survived to bring back the tale. Mintiper and his sword-partner in the Company, Tassoram, escaped northward from the battle, both wounded, but with the only loot brought back by any man from the Khytor's camp-three of his daughters, taken by Tassoram as hostages. Their journey through the wastes and ruins of the Fallen Lands along the desert's edge was long and hard; two of the girls and Tassoram died, one by one. One day Mintiper found himself staggering through the Far Forests trailing blood, having just wrestled with and slain an owlbear with his dagger, the last of the Khytor's daughters on his back. They both survived somehow, and lived together for a time under the care and teachings of the druids of the Tall Trees. Mintiper sang to Noura, the last of the Khytor's daughters, the ballads the druids taught him, and made up songs describing his own adventures. After "a handful of years" (in the North, this term means five seasons), Noura went insane, and no one Mintiper could find knew why or how to stop it. After her slow, quivering death, a heartbroken Mintiper took his lute and harp and went wandering again. Having lost all fear of death, Mintiper was often seen strolling causally through the depths of dungeons, or sitting and harping while blithely ignoring nearby ghosts or banshees. It was Mintiper who destroyed the Ghost of Berun's Hill and gave a Calishite merchant six rubies the size of grapes in exchange for a slave girl. The slave girl, Asilther Graelor, is a sometime companion of his; he bought her, nursed her back to health, and freed her, but they became lovers and friends, and often travel together. Mintiper has blue eyes that grow very dark when he is angry, or shine luminously when he is excited or delighted. An old burn scar runs diagonally accross the back of his right hand. In the Sword Coast North, Mintiper is known as a seasoned adventurer who's "been around"-survived a surprisingly long time walking in danger, finding his way almost everywhere, and surviving tragedy after tragedy. He's known as "The Lonely Harpist," and accorded respect. Few elves, humans, or half-elves in the North would knowingly attack him; most fear that he some sort of unrevealed magic that has saved him so far, and may use it to strike down those who attack him. Category:Bards Category:Half-elves